Attachment for beds.



PATENTED DEC. 4, 1906.

L. A. POWELL.

ATTACHMENT FOR BEDS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1906.

LOU ADA POWELL, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

ATTACHMENT FOR BEDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 4, 1906.

Application filed April 7, 1906. Serial No. 310,541.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoU ADA POWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabamafhave invented new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Beds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to waterbag-supporting attachments for beds, being particuarly adapted for attachment to iron beds, such as are used in hospitals.

The object of my invention is to provide an attachment which can'be manufactured at a comparatively small cost and which may be attached-to either side of the bed in such a manner that when not in use it is both out of sight and out of the way. At the same time the device, while comprising a minimum number of parts, is adapted to form a strong and rigid support for the water-bag.

A further object of my invention is to pr 0- vide the device with an extensible support by means of whicn the bag may be held at any desired elevation.

My invention is illustrated in its preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bed provided with my attachment in its operative position. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the tubular standard and its support which is clamped to the bed. Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 2 and illustrating the position of parts when the standard is in its horizontal position. Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the side rail of the bed showing the position of the device when not in use. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5 5, Fig. 3.

Similar reference-numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

I have shown my bag-holding attachment applied to the side rail 1 of an iron bed of the construction commonly used in hospitals. The attachment comprises a clamping member 2, provided with jaws 3 and 4, which receive between them the inwardly-disposed top flange 5 of the rail 1. A set-screw 6 passes through the jaw 4 and secures the clamp positively to the rail.- The clamp is provided with a square socket 7, open toward the rail, and has an inwardly-projecting extension 8, provided with a round or reduced opening communicating with the socket 7. A tubular standard 9, preferably in the form of a pipe, is threaded into the outer end of the loc ring member 10, which isdisposed at right angles to the standard and provided with a squared body portion 11, adapted to fit the socket 7 and a cylindrical or reduced shank 12, which passes through the opening in the extension 8 and projects for some distance beyond the same. As seen in Fig. 2, this shank 12 is rovided at its outer end with a pin 13, w ich engages and holds a washer 14 against a coiled spring 15, which at its outer end presses against the clamp 2.

It will be noted that the portion 11 of the locking member is of suiiicient length to enable the standard 9 to be held by the spring 15 against the rail 1 without being withdrawn from the socket 7. The spring will, however, permit the member 11 to be drawn farther outwardly, and as soon as it has been withdrawn entirely from the socket the standard and the holding-piece may be turned a quarter-revolution in either direction, when the member 11is in position to be again inserted into thesocket 7- When the parts are in this position, the standard will be disposed horizontally below the side rail. The spring 15 will therefore act automatically to draw the member 11 fully into the socket 7, as seen in Fig. 3. The parts will then be held, as shown in Fig. 4, practically out of sight and where they will not interfere with the use of the bed.

To provide for adjusting the bag to any desired height, I insert a rod 16 in the outer end of the pipe and bend its upper end to form a loop or hook 17, from which the bag 18 may be suspended. A set-screw 19 at the upper end of the standard serves to engage and hold the rod in any desired elevation.

It is not essential that the socket 7 and the member 11 should be squared; but they should present positive engaging surfaces, which will hold the member 11 against turning when it is in the socket.

It is preferable to use the spring, which gives an automatic operation for the device; but it is obvious that this may be dispensed with and a set-screw, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 5, used to hold the shank in the socket.

It will be noted that the device is reversible, which enables it to be used on either side of the bed.

Having thus described my invention, what -'I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the side rail of the bed, of a member supported thereby and provided with a socket, and a bag-supporting member capable of being inserted into said socket when in one of two or more positions and tobe removably held therein against turning.

2. The combination with the .side rail of the bed, of a clamp member connected thereto and'provided with a socket disposed below said rail, a bag-supporting member having an angularly-disposed part adapted to enter said socket, when said bag-supporting member is in one of two or more determined positions, and by engagement therein to be held against turning, and means to hold said part in said socket.

3. The combination with the side rail of the bed, of a clamp member connected thereto and provided with a socket disposed below and on the inside of said rail, a bag-supporting member adapted to swing in a substantially vertical plane and which is provided with a shank adapted to enter said socket when said latter member is in a substantially vertical or horizontal position, portions of the clamp member and shank which are adapted to engage and hold said bag-supporting member against movement from said positions in said plane, and spring means which tends to draw said shank into said socket and position said bag-supporting member, when horizontally disposed, beneath said rail.

4. In a device of the character described, a socket-piece, a bag-supporting member having a shank adapted to be inserted into said socketpiece, a spring to yieldingly hold said parts together, portions on the socket-piece and shank whic hold said member against pivotal movement on said shank, said spring. permitting said shank to be moved so as to bring said portions out of engagement after which said member is adjusted, and said portions brought back into engagement, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the character described, an integral socket piece provided with clamping-jaws, a set-screw, and a socket squared at one end and rounded at the other, in combination with a bag-supporting standard, an angularly-klisposed shank connected thereto which is squared at its inner end and reduced at its other end, said reduced portion 'being adapted to pass through said socket, a spring engaging said shank and tending to draw said squared portion into the squared end of said socket while permitting it to be withdrawn therefrom, and a vertically-adj ustable bag-supporting member carried by said standard, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOU ADA POWELL. Witnesses J. B. DRYER, NoMIE WELSH.

are adapted to engage and 

